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Carpetbag Booker
|birth= |sports team = Pittsburgh Crawdads; House of Daniel (Summer, 1934); Kansas City Regents|professional affiliations = }}"Carpetbag" Booker was professional baseball pitcher. His time with the colored team, the Pittsburgh Crawdads, brought him national renown.The House of Daniel, loc. 2847, ebook. Booker had been born in the Deep South. He stood over six feet tall, but was very thin.Ibid., loc. 3436. Despite his own fame and skill, Booker actually barnstormed a fair amount in the off-season with teams like the semipro teams. In 1934, after a period of negotiation with Harv Watrous, Booker agreed to pitch for the semipro barnstormers, the House of Daniel, at the ''Denver Post'' semipro tournament in June.Ibid. loc. 2847 Booker joined the team in Colorado Springs. (Watrous had to convince the landlady of their boardinghouse to let Booker stay there.)Ibid., loc. 3436-3458. Booker debuted against the Canon City Fylfots the next day. Most of the crowd cheered, though some booed, and a few of those made racist remarks. In the end, Booker's skilled and flamboyant pitching won the House the game, and even won the crowd over. Half the Fylfots got his autograph after the game ended.Ibid., loc. 3478-3499. Moreover, the manager of the Colorado Springs All Stars wired Watrous, asking the House to come back and play again, promising a full house if Booker started. Booker agreed, though Watrous told him to stop if he got sore or tired, since the Denver tournament was the most important thing.Ibid., loc. 3509-3520. The All Stars' manager advertised the game, emphasizing Booker's role as part of the House. He also charged one dollar per person, which people gladly paid.Ibid., loc. 3532. Booker received cheers from the crowd, which he acknowledged by tipping his cap. The All Stars did better than the last game, but that still wasn't enough against Booker. Even after Watrous took Booker out in the sixth inning, the House won again. Still, the manager was pleased that the All Stars looked like a real team this time. After the game, Booker signed autographs for the All Stars.Ibid., loc. 3532-3542. That evening, the House went out for spaghetti, and talked about the tournament, with Booker giving insight into the Crawdads and the Kansas City Regents. The next day, the House set out for Denver.Ibid., loc. 3564-3604. When they arrived in Denver, Booker announced that he preferred to go to Denver's Negro section. While the House assured him he could stay with them at a rooming house, Booker responded that he'd be in the lap of luxury among his own folk.Ibid., loc. 3624. Booker proved crucial in getting the House to the finals,Ibid., loc. 3734-3807. where they played his old team, the Crawdads. The Crawdads, knowing how Booker pitched, were able to neutralize him to some extent in the first game, though Booker was plainly not at this best. The House lost the first game, 5-1. Booker, who saw the game as something of a matter of honor, was particularly shaken by the loss. The next day, Harv Watrous played Fidgety Frank Carlisle as first pitcher over Booker's objections. However, the House did win, and Booker had to concede Watrous' decision was the correct one.Ibid., loc. 3829-3888 Booker played the third game, and had plainly regained the spark he was missing on the first day. The House won the game, and thus the series.Ibid., loc. 3900. Unfortunately, the House's celebration was cut short by the outbreak of what came to be called the Great Zombie Riots of 1934.Ibid., loc. 3911. Amid the sounds of yelling and gunfire in the distance, the players fled Merchants Field with the help of an usher, who explained that the zombies in town, particularly those in the stockyard, had gone mad and started killing every living person the could find. Moreover, rumor had it that the vampires had helped stoke the uprising.Ibid., loc. 3920-3972. When they got to the House's bus, Watrous invited the Crawdads in. They headed north, fighting the tide of traffic. They helped where they could, including saving the survivors of a car crash from a female zombie. The team beat on her with baseball bats until Booker was able to set her alight with some matches. They were able to render first aid, holding back single zombies, until a whole wave of zombies appeared. The players packed up the injured and now headed south, ramming two zombies as they sped to a nearby hospital. After dropping off the injured, the bus headed to Castle Rock.Ibid., loc. 3982-4080. Booker parted ways with the House in Castle Rock. Though he assured Harv Watrous that the House was a good club, he'd realized the racial divide of the country would create problems, and make things difficult for the team. He headed east to play for the Kansas City Regents for a time.Ibid. 4135. In January 1935, Carpetbag Booker had his own team of barnstormers. They traveled to Los Angeles where he and his team challenged the House, who were also playing in the area. Although he treated his former teammates to a nice dinner the night before the came, Booker was not nice to his former teammates the next day; he and his new team handily beat the House, although the payday was enough to take some of the sting out of it.Ibid. loc. 6129-6147. Literary Comment Carpetbag Booker is based on Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (1906-1982), a professional pitcher in the Negro League. References